Jupiter's interior and deep atmosphere: The initial pole-to-pole passes with the Juno spacecraft.
Scott J BoltonAlberto AdrianiV AdumitroaieM AllisonJ AndersonS AtreyaJeremy BloxhamShannon T BrownJohn E P ConnerneyE DeJongWilliam M FolknerD GautierDavide GrassiS GulkisTristan GuillotCandice J HansenWilliam B HubbardLuciano IessAndrew P IngersollM JanssenJ L JoergensenYohai KaspiSteven M LevinCheng LiJonathan I LunineYamila MiguelAlessandro MuraGlenn S OrtonT OwenM RavineE SmithP SteffesE StoneD StevensonR M ThorneJ Hunter WaiteDaniele DuranteRobert W EbertThomas K GreathouseV HueMelania ParisiJ R SzalayRob J WilsonPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2018)
On 27 August 2016, the Juno spacecraft acquired science observations of Jupiter, passing less than 5000 kilometers above the equatorial cloud tops. Images of Jupiter's poles show a chaotic scene, unlike Saturn's poles. Microwave sounding reveals weather features at pressures deeper than 100 bars, dominated by an ammonia-rich, narrow low-latitude plume resembling a deeper, wider version of Earth's Hadley cell. Near-infrared mapping reveals the relative humidity within prominent downwelling regions. Juno's measured gravity field differs substantially from the last available estimate and is one order of magnitude more precise. This has implications for the distribution of heavy elements in the interior, including the existence and mass of Jupiter's core. The observed magnetic field exhibits smaller spatial variations than expected, indicative of a rich harmonic content.